SimonSaysStamp Work it Wednesday Challenge - Card 1

Hi Everyone,

Today I have a cute card for a baby arrival...I wanted to use light brown/grey and pink colours so this type of card best suited the theme...

I used a white cardstock panel of 3 5/8 by 5 1/4 inches, stamped it with Martha Stewart Pink Geranium pigment ink using the Woodgrain rubber stamp. I then stamped the heart strings from Inbetweenies using Wet Cement. I used Pebble cardstock and cut a panel 1 5/8 by 3 5/8 inches, thereafter I white heat embossed a portion of the heart strings and the sentiments from SSS Baby and PS Bold Buzzwords stamp sets. I had to carefully emboss the images to best get everything aligned.

I mounted the Pebble cardstock using foam squares onto the woodgrain panel. I tied some pink organza ribbon around the assembled panel and adhered that onto a pink side folded cardstock base measuring 3 3/4 by 5 1/4 inches. To finish the card off I added some enamel dots.

My descriptions are shorter in this post and will be so for future posts, this is because I have started using Inlinkz. I hope this is a better choice! Let me know...

Find links for most of the products below:

August Papersmooches DT Blog Hop!

Papersmooches have shared a sampling of their new September release! FOUR new stamps and EIGHT new dies will be available to purchase on September 1st. You will find their new releases HERE.  

To celebrate the fun they're hosting a blog hop with some prizes...Four lucky people will get $25 gift certificate each to use at PS online store.

The links below take you to the design teams' blogs where they have all shared projects using the new stamps and dies.

Ashley Marcu

Betsy Veldman

Emily Leiphart

Erin Lincoln

JJ Bolton

Jocelyn Olson

Kalyn Kepner

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer

Pamela Ho 

Teri Anderson

 Be sure to hop along!

Pretty Pink Posh Cutting Edge Blog Hop - Card 3

Hey Guys,

It's my last entry into Pretty Pink Posh Cutting Edge Blog Hop!

I started with a panel cut to 4 by 5 1/2 inches of woodgrain patterned paper from Heidi Grace Day Dream paper pad. I used my Spellbinders Pagemaps Whimsy die set that had 2 sizes of clouds and using my Bigshot I die cut the clouds on the paper. I also die cut some out on a separate cardstock to use as my stencil for adding white embossing paste...this was cool cause it looked like real clouds!! The sentiment was from Papersmooches Pretty Phrases stamp set which I inked onto white cardstock (cut into a flag tag) using Distress Ink Peacock Feathers. I added some stitching using a blue pen and adhered the tag onto the panel using foam squares.

To assemble the entire card, I cut out 3 panels of blue cardstock to 4 by 5 1/2 inches to match the paper. I side folded a sheet of acetate that was cut to 1/16" (all round) larger than the panels...I would suggest doing this to 1/8 or even 1/4" rather as mine was an oversight. I turned the die cut clouds into a "shaker" by adding some sequins and confetti which I punched out. I then adhered the rest of the panels and to finish the card I cut out 2 red stamped hearts, adhered them and added Glossy Accents by Ranger. Note: I added shadows to the clouds using a Copic Ciao marker in the colour W-1.

I must say that taking part of blog hops or challenges is quite fun...gets you thinking and creating!! Love it!

Pretty Pink Posh Cutting Edge Blog Hop - Card 2

Hi Everyone,

This afternoon I have my second card for the blog hop held by Pretty Pink Posh.

It's inspired by nature and contains very earthy colours. I started off with a base of natural cardstock (similar to Neenah desert storm), it measures about 4 1/2 by 6 inches and is side folded. To that I added patterned paper from Colorbok's Splendor paper pad. I cut it to 4 3/16 by 5 3/4 inches and distressed it on the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then die cut patterned paper from Colorbok's Dossier paper pad using the Simonsaysstamp Life Bubble Horizontal 1 and trimmed out the edge thereby making it a plain rectangle. I also cut out another one from plain cardstock and adhered it to the back of the paper to keep it sturdy as the paper was quite thin.

I used Clearly Besotted Elegant Butterflies dies and stamp set to create the attachments. I found some brownish patterned paper in Basic Grey's Scarlett's Letter paper pad and die cut 3 butterflies. I then stamped the butterflies using Color Theory inks in the colours Dog Brown and Yes Peas. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set with Walnut Stain onto the rectangle and then mounted it onto the prepped base using foam squares together with the butterflies as well. To finish of the card I added a rosette which I cut out from Spellbinders Pagemaps Whimsy die set and added a pearl to the centre. I also bent the butterflies wings to give it interest.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post! Hope you enjoyed the card :)

Pretty Pink Posh Cutting Edge Blog Hop - Card 1

 

I'm super excited as I'm participating in my very first blog hop!...and this one is being hosted by Pretty Pink Posh...check out their blog here.

When I first started crafting I decided to buy myself a die cutting machine because I believe it to be an investment rather than buying steel dies which in my country can be quite an expensive venture to start a collection. However when there are sales on dies I will definitely take up the opportunity...so you can gather that my collection isn't big at all. I can count how many dies I have on one hand to give you an idea :)

One of the dies I have is Simonsaysstamp Life Bubble Round Die and I tried my best incorporating this into my card. I settled on colours containing blue and greys...

I started with a base of natural cardstock (similar to Neenah Desert Storm), its top folded to 4 by 5 1/2 inches. I used a grey patterned paper from My Minds Eye Bright Side collection that's measuring 3 3/4 by 51/4 inches and I adhered it flat onto the base, after rounding two corners. I then die cut my bubble out of some light blue cardstock. I background stamped twice, using Distress Ink in the colour Iced Spruce, the splatter image from Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge rubber stamp set. I then stamped using Black Soot the "Happy Everything" sentiment from Papersmooches Simply Said stamp set. I trimmed the die to fit into the corner of the card and with a dauber I distressed the edges using Iced Spruce. I mounted it with foam squares onto the base.

Onto the image, I used the turtle from the Papersmooches Party Posse stamp set and stamped it using Black Soot. I used Copic Ciao markers to colour in the body (B00, BG000, BG13 and BG15) and shell (W1, W3 and W5). I trimmed it out and used foam squares to mount it down. To finish of the card I stamped some stars from Papersmooches Bold Buzzwords stamp set using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in the colour Silver and then added clear and blue sequins.

I plan to enter two more cards...let's see how far I get :)

SYS2 Card 5

My final card as part of the SYS2 class...Inspired by Debby Hughes!

I used a top folded base of 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches and a front panel of 3 3/8 by 4 5/8 inches of Neenah solar white cardstock. For the intermediate layers I made use of patterned paper from the Basic Grey collections Blush (blue with brown and green distress patterns) and Sugared (pink with white flower patterns and a bit of distress looks)...feel free to use what you have in your paper stash.

On the front panel I used stamps from Papersmooches Botanicals 1 and 2. The dandelion, dragonfly and butterfly was used from Botanicals 1 and the rest from the second set. I used the images and stamped on the bottom left corner to mimic the look of a garden. I used various inks as listed below:

- Studio Calico Color Theory - Sunny Day (Yellow), Blush Crush (Pink) and Clean Slate (Grey)
- Versamagic Dew Drop Chalk Ink - Aquatic Splash and Key Lime

The main flower in pink was heat embossed using Distress Embossing powder in Worn Lipstick. I coloured the inside of the leaves with a dark pink Copic Ciao marker thereby shading the leave. I did the same technique on the centre of the dandelion.

The Hello sentiment was from Papersmooches Bold Buzzwords...I stamped it using Hero Arts Chalk Ink in the colour Splash and then applied glossy accents to give it a puffy look.

I arranged the panels how I best preferred them and mounted it onto the base (Note: I added a splash of ink onto the bottom of the base prior to mounting). I used adhesive on the first patterned paper that got mounted onto the base and then used foam squares elsewhere. Debby used a clothespin on her card, whereas I used a paper clip on the top left corner. Using a glue dot, I stuck a bow made from SewEasy twine in the colour Blue Lagoon. I rubbed on some multi medium matte onto the twine before affixing it, just so that it would keep the bow shape. To finish off, I added Summer Stories enamel dots by Teresa Collins.

One of my best cards so far...really pleased with how this turned out!

Enjoy making your own variation!

SYS2 Card 4

Hey Everyone,

My card today showcases the most adorable kitty image stamp ever...simply my favourite! It's from Papersmooches and the set is called Party Posse. I stamped it onto white cardstock using Black Soot Distress Ink and coloured it in using Copic Ciaos markers. I used various pink and purple colours till I was satisfied with the final blended colour. I added with white gel pen a little highlight on its nose and then cut out the entire image, leaving a 1mm white edge around it.

Moving onto the tag on the card, I used white cardstock and cut it down to 2 by 3 1/2 and trimmed out a flag end. I also cut vellum 2mm (approx. 1/16")  smaller than the white cardstock tag. I then heat embossed clear powder onto a pink stamped sentiment image from the Party Posse set. I took a pink Copic Ciao and lightly coloured the back side of the stamped image on the vellum. Using clear adhesive I adhered the vellum onto the tag.

Onto the panel...I made use of a plaid patterned paper by Fabscraps and cut it down to 4 by 5 1/4 inches. I temporarily adhered it to my craft sheet and then also a stencil over it towards the bottom right corner. The stencil used was the Doily template by Kaisercraft. I then used white embossing paste by Wendy Vecchi and applied it over the stencil with a pallet knife. I had to be careful not to over apply the paste as it can seep under the stencil and ruin the image. I then removed the stencil gently and left it to dry. (Note: Stencils should be washed immediately)

After the paste dried, I mounted the panel using foam squares onto a Neenah Solar white cardstock side-folded down to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches. The tag and kitty image were mounted over the panel also using foam squares. I finished of the card with a few pink sugar dots by Prima.

Hope you enjoyed the card...Go on and create your version!

Please do comment and link your projects.

SYS2 Card 3

The card for today displays rich orange and pink tones, almost replicating the look of fire in my opinion. So let's begin...

I started of with a Neenah Solar white cardstock panel measuring 3 3/4 by 5 1/4 inches. I then used Dylusions Ink Spray by Dyan Reaveley in the colours Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange and Bubblegum Pink. I kept the spray about 8 inches (20cm) away from my project. I mainly used the first two colours on the panel and added the pink last. I sprayed on very lightly the pink to form "droplets" of colour, so you can see its not over powering the card. Afterwards I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink with a blending tool to darken the edges .

I stamped an image (Tim Holtz Flourish 2 rubber stamp) in Versafine Onyx Black on the top edge of the panel. I then heat embossed Liquid Platinum by Ranger for my sentiment stamp. I used the "happy birthday" sentiment from SimonSaysStamp Handwritten Borders stamp set and added silver and grey washi tape to the bottom of panel. To finish of I mounted the panel onto black cardstock folded down to 4 by 5 3/8 inches using foam squares.

If I could improve on the card, I would have rather embossed in black so that the sentiment stands out more. But I'm quite happy with how this turned out with the colour combinations I used.

Let me know what you think of the card!

SYS2 Card 2

Hi Everyone,

Today my card is a top folding card with beautiful pink and purple tones...love these colours!

For the panel and base I used Neenah solar white cardstock 80lb cut to 3 7/8 by 3 1/2 and folded down to 4 1/8 by 4 1/4 respectively. I stamp an image from Taylored Expressions Notable Blooms stamp set using Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad in Black Soot. I then coloured the image using Copic Ciao markers. Unfortunately I didn't keep a track of the colours I used but pick a few shades similar to these if you want to replicate the same colour scheme.

 

I then stamped a sentiment from the same stamp set using clear Emboss it by Ranger and then heat embossed Liquid Platinum embossing powder also by Ranger. I rounded the corners of the panel and mounted it onto a 3 3/8 by 3 7/8 purple patterned paper from Basic Grey's Wisteria paper pad using foam squares. I then used glue tape to mount the entire panel onto the base. To finish up the card I used a white gel pen to add some highlights to the image and stitching on the patterned paper. I also added 3 enamel dots from Studio Calico's Color Theory.

Hope the card inspires you!

Please comment and link back to your ideas.

SYS2 Card 1

I created this card using neenah solar white cardstock folded down to 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 as a base. For the panel I used the same cardstock, powered it first and then white embossed several times an image from Paper Smooches Botanicals 2 stamp set.

I took that same image and then using Walnut Stain Distress ink pad, I stamped dark shadows in the background. Ink will get onto the white embossing since no masking was done on the image... I'll sort that out at the end. Next using Distress ink pad in Vintage Photo and a mini blending tool, I started distressing the panel from outside towards the centre till the entire panel is covered. Thereafter I used Walnut Stain to darken the edges using the same technique.

I stamped in Versafine Black Onyx ink a sentiment from Paper Smooches Pretty Phrases stamp set. I then mounted the panel onto the base using foam squares and added stitching to the edges using a brown fineliner pen.

I used a wet tissue to gently wipe away the excess ink on the embossing to expose the bright white colour of the image.

Hope you liked the card for today.

Be sure to comment and share your ideas!

OnlineCardClasses SYS2

Hi Everyone,

For my first blog post I thought it apt to chat about the recent class I booked myself for. It's called Stretch your Stamps 2 and it was held by OnlineCardClasses.com which had 12 days of card making ideas. It revolved around using featured stamps in different ways or techniques to get the best use out of them. Jennifer Mcguire, one of the teachers, had a introduction video showcasing the stamps to be used and also gave ideas on similar alternatives that you may have in your stamp stash. What made the class unique was that you could download the videos and step-by-step PDFs (to keep forever!), interact with the teachers, meet other card makers and be exposed to hundreds of cards uploaded by the participants. They also have daily competitions going on for a chance to win gift certificates to international brands or an opportunity to win a seat for their other classes advertised on their website.

With all this creativity around you, it gets you wanting to take out those crafting goodies and just have fun!

Be sure to visit www.onlinecardclasses.com to view their catalogue of classes.

I will be posting some cards I made soon... Watch this space :)